Young and Beautiful
by Voltalia the Majestic One
Summary: Greg Universe has had just about some of the worst luck in his young life so far, but everything changes when he treks out into Beach City, California in 1991 in hopes of becoming a famous rocker and especially when he meets an angel. Can he turn his life around just yet?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: And thus begins the next entry of the ****_Gemstone Saga_****. This time, we take a look at how Greg Universe and Rose Quartz came together! This should be interesting, especially since Zoisite is also in this one ****_and _****the roles of Aunt Carole, her dead husband, and her kids Gwen, Johnnie, and Parker are very much explored here.**

**I hope everybody enjoys!**

**-Voltalia**

* * *

><p><strong>July 16, 1991<strong>

Life hadn't been treating him kindly as of late. His parents Shep and Stella were dead, he and his sister Adrienne had been estranged for a while (at least on Adrienne's side), he hadn't had any success with his music so far (he had been touring in his van for three months straight from Washington state to California), and his love life was practically nonexistent. Where did he go wrong?

Maybe it had all started back in April on Shep and Stella's wedding anniversary night. They had been driving along the cities of Aberdeen and Chehalis on the highways in order to get to their favorite anniversary tradition, Carmine's Italian Restaurant which was located in Kennewick. For the two fifty-something-year-olds, that place had been one of their favorites of all time since their relationship had begun in 1965 at a restaurant just like it. As those fond memories trekked through their minds, they kept driving along and they surely would've made it had it not been for a drunk driver suddenly and devastatingly rear-ending them.

Neither of them even had enough time to react, and especially not Shep who had been behind the wheel. He was violently thrust forward, his head colliding abruptly with the windshield and blood spilling out of the gashes the glass shards made when they embedded themselves into his skin; almost an instant later, he was dead.

As for Stella, she had been left with a broken neck, a great deal of internal bleeding, and a spinal cord severed below her head.

When the police and paramedics arrived several minutes later, Stella was whisked off to the nearest hospital that could be found. During the ambulance ride there, the redhaired fifty-something-year-old woman couldn't resist panicking and crying out for her dead husband and flailing her arms about, and all while she was bleeding to death. By the time they finally arrived, she had already lost consciousness. The next morning at 7:15 A.M., she was pronounced dead.

Greg had remembered being at the funeral later that week, but trying his damndest not to cry in front of his sister and everybody else who was there because it seemed like a _totally_ uncool thing for a rocker like Mick Jagger or Don Henley to do. But all that got him was nothing more than passive-aggressive glances that seemed to imply scorn and disgust.

So he decided to go on tour not only to console himself, but also to try and start living his life without them while also keeping them in his heart.

Yet here he was now. There were no concert profits to reap from, he was practically homeless, he had no sort of job to speak of (it didn't help matters he had dropped out of high school years ago), and he was so desperate for fame that he had even resorted to changing his last name to Universe.

His latest stop was Beach City, which just so happened to be a few miles away from where his aunt Carole (Shep's kid sister) and uncle Jared lived. Surely, he'd able to attract _some_ fans in this small town, right? Well, there was only one way to find out...


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. I've had a bit of a bad week, I'm afraid, especially since my relationship just fell apart. But while I'm still a bit upset, I have hopes that I'll get into a better relationship next time around. So here's chapter 2 for you all. Enjoy!**

**~Voltalia **

He decided to park at the back of a Motel 6 and sneak along the back in order to catch whoever might've been staying there totally off-guard. It was pretty late at night, so to speak, so the poor lighting allowed him to go all the way up to the front undetected. After all, he figured, almost all of the potential fans were probably asleep anyway and this would be a great way to wake them up. Better safe than sorry...

"Alright, now to plug the guitar into this speaker..." Greg muttered as he was doing so in the front parking lot.

When he was done, he quickly looked over the hotel rooms that were immediately facing him. He then began strumming at the strings of his beloved electric guitar, which he called "Kathy" after an unrequited crush of his. Before long, what resembled an amateur musician's take on a rapturous melody began playing and he and Kathy couldn't bear to stop. The music emerged with imminent success, but all the guests that just woke up were not amused.

"Hey, turn that down, you jerkoff!" someone yelled from outside a motel window.

"Can't you see we're trying to sleep?!" another person shouted without showing himself.

After that remark, Greg sighed dejectedly. Somehow, nobody here seemed to have appreciated what he was trying to do. Still, he kept playing only to progressively strum softer and softer until the sounds that ensued could barely be heard anymore. Great, just great. He looked over the hotel rooms again, this time in desperation for a miracle to occur. He was so focused that he didn't seem to notice a faint pink aura suddenly materializing out of the corner of his eye.

"Goddamn it..." he mumbled, figuring it was a part of a police siren. His first night in this small town and he was already in trouble with the cops.

However, he had to look again when the aura became significantly brighter and found himself face-to-face with one of the most beautiful women he had ever met in his life. Where had she come from? Surely, he was hallucinating or something.

"Hey, man!" the would-be rocker shouted at her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'd ask you the same thing." this mysterious woman answered, slightly confused herself.

"Well, I was just trying to get these guys' attention is all."

"Really? I could hear your mating call from three miles away. That was so cool!"

"Mating call? What are you talking about?"

"That song you were playing. You were using it as a mating call, no?"

"What? No, I was just trying to play a song for these guys so I could be famous."

This woman, Rose Quartz, tilted her kinky-haired head to the side. "Oh. I see. So can you tell me your name?"

"Yeah, I'm Greg Universe."

Rose Quartz gasped. "You're a child of the Universe?"

"Not really. 'Universe' is just my last name."

"Okay, well, I'm Rose Quartz."

"Rose Quartz, huh? What a strange name for a pretty lady."

Greg had expected Rose to take offense to that last statement, but oddly enough her facial expression didn't seem to change nor she did seem even the slightest bit angry. Maybe she had gotten used to it after a while, but who knew? At least she seemed to be taking a fancy to him. With that out of the way, she shrugged and said, "Anyway, I'd like you to come home with me."

"Are you sure?" Greg asked. "We just met."

"Oh, absolutely!" she perked up. "I hope you like what we've done to the place."

"We?"

"Oh right. I've got friends living with me. Please stop by. You'll love them!"

The would-be rocker thought about this for a minute and then said, "Alright, if you say so."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I've had a long month so far, but with Christmas coming in just a few days and this year making its way for 2015, I'm hoping things'll get a little better. Same goes for Crystal-Gem-Goddess (whom you may've heard has had suicidal thoughts lately; if you can, pay her a visit and show her some love); as for everybody else, have a Happy Holidays!**

**Now I must get to work on chapter 4. Enjoy!**

**-Voltalia**

Rose had led her new friend to the Crystal Temple where she and her supposed friends had been living for several decades. It was a pretty exciting evening for her; first she'd travelled by herself up to Fontana for the very first time and now she was showing off somebody she'd just met barely a few hours ago.

The first Gem to spot the newcomer right away was Tanzanite, who by now had gotten so used to Rose's antics outside the Temple that she didn't even bother commenting anymore.

"Ooh, who's this fellow character?" Tanzanite asked inquisitively.

"He's Greg Universe and he wants to be famous!" Rose perked up.

"Is he from around here?"

"I don't know." The pink-haired lady turned to face her new friend. "Where _did_ you come from?"

"I, uh, came from all the way up there in Washington." Greg answered with a shrug.

"So what are you doing here?" the blue Gem asked again.

"Trying to become famous like she said."

Tanzanite pursed her lips. "And I'm guessing it has something to do with courting people with an instrument?"

"Well, not exactly-"

However, the long-haired and blonde Zirconia cut him off right then and there just as she was making her way besides the blue Gem. "You want fame? Here? Dream on."

"Zirconia." Tanzanite growled under her breath. "How could you say that to this human? You're unbelievable."

"Well, 'scuse me, Tanzanite." the synthetic Gem answered. "But I think if he wants to be famous, he should go back home."

That last part made the long-haired rocker cringe so badly that he retreated back into his mind. How would he tell these strangers that he couldn't just go home? that he didn't have a home to go to anymore? He couldn't just come out and say that, of course not. Then they'd probably mock him the first chance they got.

Tanzanite turned to face her guest and bailed him out of this embarrassing situation. "Don't worry about what she just said." she assured him. "She hasn't mastered the art of subtlety yet."

"Thanks, uh... Tanzanite, right?" he asked just to be sure.

"Yes, my name is Tanzanite." the blue Gem said calmly. "The lady beside me is Zirconia, the girl over there..." She pointed at the milk-white Gem Pearl who was verbally dueling with the violet Gem Amethyst at the moment. "...is Pearl and her adversary is Amethyst."

"Wow..." Greg answered with amazement. "Your names are cool. Are you guys part of a cult or something?"

Tanzanite desperately wanted to punch him in the face for asking that, but she kept herself composed anyhow and instead answered, "No, we're not. We just happen to be a group of tightly-knit friends, is all. Besides, I'm not finished introducing you to everyone." She gestured him towards the sealed door and led the way. "Jade and Diamond and Garnet are inside with the children."

"Who are they?"

"Well, I'm about to show you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Well, I guess this'll be the last chapter I post here before we go on to 2015. I hope everybody who stuck with me then will do so now, and yes I'm also directing this at Trollface-Mastah, my dearest friend and confidante. Still, being the "Yoko Ono" of the SU fandom is something I might not be able to live down. (And don't ask why, either; it's best if nobody talked about all the hell I had to go through the last several weeks.)**

**Anyway, enjoy and make sure 2014 goes out with a bang!**

**-Voltalia**

As Tanzanite led her guest into her room, she couldn't help but notice how amazed he was by all this.

There seemed to be an infinite amount of space here, not to mention a giant collection of parasols and bullet guns dating back to the seventeenth century as well as a five-foot-long petrified wood table. The path they were walking along also seemed to be illuminated by some sort of bluish-violet radioactive light from beneath the translucent tiled floor, and it was perfectly aligned with every step they made. Right along the end were Jade, Diamond, and Garnet like Tanzanite had said a little earlier; and like she had stated then as well, the kids Aquamarine and Fluorite and Topaz happened to be there.

"Just a group of tightly-knit friends, huh?" the twenty-year-old human Greg asked like he was somehow disbelieving of his hostess's answer.

"Yes, yes we are." Tanzanite politely insisted. "Don't we act like friends to you?"

The guest shrugged to himself again and said nothing. Tanzanite took it as an inconclusive answer and moved on to introducing everybody in the room.

"Jade?" the blue Gem called out to the green muscle-bound Gem. "There's someone here I'd like you to meet."

Jade quickly craned her neck to meet Tanzanite's face. "Who's this hippie and what's he doing here?" she asked while scrunching her face in concentration.

"Isn't that the guy Rose brought here earlier this week?" Aquamarine asked as well, tilting her head in the process.

"No, he isn't." Tanzanite answered. "His name is Greg Universe and Rose says he seeks fame here."

"...I see." was all the hot-pink Garnet had said to that.

"I gotta say, he doesn't look like he'd be a child of the universe. He looks more like a hobo." the bluish-black Fluorite commented without the slightest bit of irony.

"He's not a child of the universe, Fluorite." Tanzanite was quick to point out. "That's just his name, or so Rose says." She shook her head a bit. "Anyway, if his expression is anything to go by, I believe he's unable to go back home for whatever reason and he needs to stay somewhere. If you'd like to, he can stay here for the time being." She briefly glanced at the darling orange Gemling Topaz. "And yes, Topaz, that includes you too."

"Well, actually, my aunt Carole and uncle Jared live just a few miles from here." the long-haired rocker quickly spoke up. "I could just stay there."

"But wouldn't you like to stay here, at least for just one night?"

"I don't know... I just met you guys."

"Please just stay here for now. I promise you'll be with your aunt and uncle later. We don't mean you any harm, honestly."

The long-haired rocker thought about it for a second and acquiesced. "If you say so... but remember what you promised me, alright?"


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Tanzanite decided to get out of the house and take a stroll through part of Beach City. She felt she deserved a break from her human guest driving her crazy with stories of his parents and sister and cousins and some girl named Kathy. How surprising it must've been for the Gems to have a guy as insecure as he seemed suddenly talking up a storm about his life story; at least, it must have been for somebody like her or her pupil Pearl.

But enough of that. She had some reflecting to do here. She couldn't remember the last time they had encountered anybody like Greg; well, maybe except back in 1969 when a whole entourage of Woodstockers making their way to Illinois decided to settle in the temple, and stink up the entire place with their "herbs" and whatnot. (Twenty-two years later, the drugs' odors were still lingering around here.) But this human only seemed interested in the wickedly-enchanting rock 'n roll and looking cool. At least he didn't seem to pose a threat to her or the other Gems.

As she expounded further into this man's character, she suddenly came across a familiar, effeminate face.

"Zoisite?" the blue Gem asked with suspicion, a little confused by his appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? I was on my way to tell your group that it was time for Diamond to go back home and rule her country." the pure-white Gem answered rather smugly. "I'm not too late, am I?"

Tanzanite craned her neck to look afar at where she had started. "I should hope not." she answered calmly. Something about this seemed wrong.

Well, this kind of encounter always seemed wrong as if her gut feeling hadn't made it apparent already. "If you'd like, I can lead you back to the temple."

"Thank you, but I'd rather she came to me instead."

"That might take a while. This is much faster."

"And how might that be?"

Tanzanite had to think of something quickly to answer his question. "We could teleport there. It'd only take a few seconds."

"Fine." Zoisite huffed.

And they did just that. When they got inside, Amethyst was dozing off on the couch while Zirconia was sitting at the counter and Jade was upstairs reenacting her glory days as a gladiatress with Garnet. The synthetic Gem only glanced at Zoisite's crystal eyes once before she started tremoring and wildly shrieking like a monkey. She then quickly jumped down onto the floor and curled up into a ball.

"Zirconia, calm down. He's just here to retrieve Diamond." Tanzanite tried coaxing her.

"Dear God, please don't let him hurt me again..." Zirconia blubbered as she continued to stay on the floor, locked in that position.

"I won't, believe me." Tanzanite assured her.

"Hey! What's with all the screaming?" Jade asked as she came down the stairs with Garnet following right behind her.

The two Gems, especially Garnet, then took a gander at Zoisite.

"...what are you doing here?" Garnet asked as she was silently starting to seeth with rage.

Tanzanite calmly explained for him, "He's just here to take Diamond back home. Don't worry, I promise I won't let him hurt anybody while he's with me."

"Let's hope you don't." Garnet said before she became quiet again.

Just as she'd said that, though, their guest from last night suddenly came back in search of something he'd accidentally left behind earlier.

Zoisite noticed him right away, and the white Gem could feel the blood in his body begin to boil and undulate asunder.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Greg asked while having his head tilted at this strange man. "I just came back for Kathy, that's all."

"Not now, Greg. As soon as Zoisite leaves, then you can get your guitar." Tanzanite spoke to him, this time in a hushed tone.

"Okay, why?"

"Well, let's just say he doesn't have a very good history with your kind. Your mere presence is pissing him off right now. Just leave now."

"But Kathy..."

"Just go."

"My cousins are going to be so disappointed if they don't get to meet her. And what about my aunt and uncle?"

Zoisite then gasped softly enough for nobody to hear him. This human had family... Perhaps he could go after them and make him wish he were dead that way.

Tanzanite immediately realized what Zoisite was going to do once he got ahold of these family members, and proceeded to scold the human while keeping her hushed intonation intact. Now their lives were in danger and it'd be his fault for telling him this information. What the hell had he done?


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I go back to school next week, so since I've got more days per week to attend classes, I might not get to work on my fanfics as often as I want. Anyway, I still haven't figured out which chapter I'll end this on but it may be either very near the late teens or the early twenties.**

**Oh, did I mention I'll be 20 next month?**

**Enjoy!**

**~Voltalia**

After Zoisite had left with Diamond, Greg Universe went over to his aunt and uncle's the next few miles over in Eureka. He wasn't alone, though. Rose Quartz and Zirconia decided to tag along as well. For the pink Gem, it was because she wanted to see what his family was like and for the synthetic Gem, she just wanted to be by her buddy's side. When the three made their way over to the place, Aunt Carole was the first to make her presence known.

The first thing that drew the two Gems' attention was her short ash-brown hair. It was cut neatly at the base of her neck and managed to make a nice frame for her diamond-shaped face. The rest of her consisted of a pretty gaunt figure (not as gaunt as Pearl's, though), dark chocolate brown eyes, pencil-thin lips, a thin miniscule nose, and an almost-tan complexion. This did not make her look like the aunt of a would-be rocker, but it did give off the appearance that she was indeed a mother of three children, albeit a bit younger than initially supposed.

"My goodness!" was the first thing to come out of Rose's mouth. "You must be so patient having to put up with someone like Greg."

Carole shrugged awkwardly and said, "Well, when you've got children as rambunctious as mine are, you'll know when people like my nephew start feeling like a walk in the park to get along with."

"Well, if you have to know, you can't just walk through a park like back at home. How do you even get by such places without having animals pop out and try to kill you?" Zirconia asked while scratching the back of her head, confused by the "walk in the park" comment.

"No, I didn't mean a literal walk in the park." Carole explained. "It was just a metaphor."

"Metaphor, huh?" Zirconia tilted her head at this. "I can't say I've ever heard of one before." Then she coyly said aside to her friend, "These humans must have the strangest conversations ever if they're using these 'metaphors.'"

"Hey, Mom!" a thirteen-year-old girl's voice called out. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just some friends of your cousin, Gwen!" Carole called back. "Get out here so you can meet them!"

"Yeah, okay! I'll be right there!" Gwen yelled once more.

A few seconds later, she left the living room and joined her mother and the guests.

Thirteen-year-old Gwen had just had her birthday last month, and yet it didn't look like puberty had set in yet. However, she looked remarkably healthy and fair-sized and she also dressed modestly. She had her mother's ash-brown hair and diamond face, her father's gray/blue eyes, his arched nose, his pale complexion, and a wine-colored heart-shaped birthmark along the right corner of her lower jaw.

"So these must be his friends? Let me guess, he snagged them from his concert?" Gwen snarked.

"Gwen, please." Carole hushed her. "Your cousin is not like that. They're... uh, what are you two exactly?"

"We're Crystal Gems, ma'am." Rose spoke up. "We only live a few miles away from here."

"Right." Carole muttered almost a bit out of disbelief. She then spoke up, "Why don't you two come inside and join us for dinner?"

"A-Are you sure?" Zirconia asked uncertainly. "You don't think your husband and the other kids'll freak out when they see us, do you?"

"Of course not." Carole said with a nervous laugh. "They're your biggest fans. Well, Johnnie and Parker are; I'm sure Jared could care less, really."

"So could I." Gwen deadpanned. "But... I guess it wouldn't kill me to have you over."

"What did she mean by...?" Zirconia was about to ask again before Carole cut her off. "Metaphor, right."


	7. Chapter 7

Inside the Zimmerman house, Carole sat at the barely-oblique mahogany dining room table with her husband Jared, her daughters Elaine (or Gwen, as she preferred to be called) and Johnnie, her seven-year-old son Parker, her aspiring rocker nephew, and the two guests who came with him. At first, dinner was relatively quiet among the seated until Carole asked, "So how was everybody's day today?"

"Alright." Jared answered calmly.

"Fine." Johnnie said.

"Amazing!" Parker squeaked.

Gwen was the last of the immediate family to speak up. "Everything was great until Re-Todd came back from Fontana." she grumbled. "And you wanna know what was worse than that? He came back with ticks on his butt! This must be the fourth time this month he's gotten ticks on himself."

"Well, be thankful you didn't get any on yourself." Carole warned her eldest daughter. "Besides, I'm sure Todd wasn't the only one to come back with those bloodsucking freaks." She then turned to the rest of the guests who were seated. "Anybody else want to contribute?"

Finally, it was Greg's turn. "Well... yesterday, I was making my way through Beach City, right? So I was trying to find a place to park and I happened to come across this Motel 6. Anyway, I parked right there and I was trying to get some fans, but they just didn't appreciate what I was doing..."

Eleven-year-old Johnnie, with her pretty dark brown eyes and gappy smile, prompted her cousin to go on.

"...so anyway, I was about to give up right then and there..." he continued. "...when this pretty little angel came along." He pointed, right then and there, at the lovely Rose Quartz. "I know it's only been a day since we met, but I think I might be in love."

"Congratulations, buddy." Zirconia cheerfully said. "You're under the influence of Projection."

"Projection? What's that?"

"Projection is where you see her... and your heart isn't what's keeping you alive anymore. It's just... her."

"Sounds like you know the feeling."

"Oh, Greg..." Zirconia shook her head and laughed to herself. "...you really have no idea how much Rose means to me, do you?" She sighed abjectedly. "I'd do anything for her, and I do mean anything. Why, I think I'd even-" Suddenly, she squeaked out loud. "Excuse me, I think I just projected in my outfit."

Jared instantly knew what she meant and pointed her towards the bathroom. "You might want to change in there." he suggested. "I don't want the kids to know where babies come from just yet."

Zirconia got up and headed that way while the rest looked on. After the synthetic Gem got in and shut the door behind her, everybody else got on with their conversations at the dinner table.

"Okay, where were we now?" Jared asked after a brief moment of silence. "Oh yeah, I think we were just talking about how our dear nephew met an angel last night."

"Yeah, that must be it." Carole agreed. "And I can hardly believe how beautiful she looks." She craned her neck to have a look at Rose's face.

"She looks like a Disney Princess!" Parker piped up.

Rose was heavily blushing at those comments; it almost felt like the blood vessels in her face were going to burst right then and there. It seemed like more of these comments would be coming her way when knocking could suddenly be heard at the front door.


End file.
